Third plays fourth in a game with huge ramifications for the title race, so can the Reds recover from the Boxing Day setback against Man City or will Mourinho get the better of his former employee at Stamford Bridge?
Meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool have always been fascinating in the Premier League era and particularly so in recent times. Fans of both sides will remember their various Champions League encounters for different reasons while Rafa Benitez and Fernando Torres have had a particularly deep insight into the fixture, having managed and played for both clubs respectively. Luis Suarez and Branislav Ivanovic will also have a pretty clear of last season’s rather ‘tasty’ affair at Anfield, which had plenty of bite and loads for fans to sink their teeth into if we recall correctly.
Both sides go into the game in a decent run of form with Chelsea having won five of their last seven league games and Liverpool four of their last six, while Brendan Rodgers’ men are coming into the game on the back of a hugely encouraging display at the Etihad, where they didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side against Manchester City.
With that in mind, there is enough evidence to support a home win (6/5) or an away win (12/5), while few would be surprised if it goes the way of both of their league encounters last season and ends up in a draw, which can be backed at 23/10.
As well as the form of the Reds going into Sunday’s encounter, their record at Stamford Bridge should also offer encouragement for those backing an away win. Liverpool have drawn one and won two of their last trips to Stamford Bridge in the league and have never had the same difficulty at the ground as, for example, Manchester United have over the years.
Last week, we confidently predicted goals and plenty of them in the meeting between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates, but that encounter and recent comments from Jose Mourinho is enough to suggest that this game might not develop into a shootout. Mourinho has spoken recently of his desire to start winning games 1-0 – as they did against Swansea on Stephen’s day – and a repeat of that scoreline is available at 10/1.
A repeat of the goalless affair at the Emirates is a little bit more tempting at 12/1, but whatever happens, we think that odds of 31/10 on under 1.5 goals and 21/20 on under 2.5 goals represent a very decent bet indeed. Then again, it’s not even four years since the two of them played out a 4-4 draw on this ground in the Champions League, so if you’re feeling lucky, over 5.5 goals is available at 9/1 and 7 goals or more at 22/1.
Sticking with the ‘it’s gonna be a tight one’ theme for a minute, you can get either Chelsea or Liverpool to come from behind to draw at 13/2, while the home side are quoted at 17/2 and the visitors at 13/1 to come from behind and win the match.
Obviously not all of you are going to have as negative an outlook on the game as we have portrayed so far – we sincerely hope it doesn’t come to pass – and if there are going to be goals, there are plenty of candidates who are going to put their hands up when it comes to scoring them.
The favourite of course, is that man Luis Suarez, who is 5/1 to score the first or last goal in the match and 11/8 to score at any time, a bet that can be sweetened to the tune of 10/3 when you add a Liverpool win into the mix.
Philippe Coutinho can be backed at 10/1 to repeat what he did at the Etihad and score the first goal here, while Raheem Sterling is 14/1 to score first and 5/1 to score at any time. He has been in good form and really should have scored against Manchester City; that he didn’t was because of poor officiating and his own waywardness in front of goal.
On Chelsea’s side, Fernando Torres (11/2) is still the favourite to score first against his old side despite only having netted twice in the league this season. A far more likely scenario is goal from an in-form Eden Hazard (8/1 first goalscorer, 5/2 anytime goalscorer) and a goal from the Belgian in a Chelsea win doesn’t look too bad at 4/1; it looks even better if it’s the only goal in a 1-0 win at 60/1.
Outside of those two, if you’re feeling slightly more optimistic, John Terry has scored twice this season and has a decent record against the Reds and can be backed at 8/1 to score at any time and 25/1 to net the first of the day at the Bridge.
Finally, it might be a bet for only the most optimistic of Liverpool fans, but on their last trip to London they managed five goals and a clean sheet and if you think they can repeat that feat against a team managed by Jose Mourinho, another 5-0 win for the Reds is available at 250/1.
Stranger things have happened, right?
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